There were crowds at the Taj Mahal on Monday, just after sunrise, but only where clichéd photos of the building’s reflection were taken, or inside the tomb, where men whooped past Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal’s cenotaphs, to hear their voices echo. There was spectacle too: a couple getting married amongst milling tourists and Japanese women in saris, dressed to match the Indian backdrop. But the Taj has large gardens. People thinned out soon after entering and it was possible to stroll quietly in the building’s shadow, through the mosque to its west and identical pavilion to its east, where audiences with the Great Moghul were held.

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Old World Wandering is a travelogue about overland travel, about hauling backpacks across borders to find connections within regions and across cultures. It’s a collection of travel stories from two journeys through the Old World, written by a South African couple.

After nine years travelling and living abroad, they’re back in Cape Town, experiencing their hometown through a new lens. Iain runs an audio tour app called VoiceMap, and works with storytellers around the world to create location-aware audio experiences. Claire writes about China’s story in Africa, where her travels have just begun.

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